Silencer for railcar retarders

ABSTRACT

A silencing structure adapted to be used in conjunction with a railcar retarder of the kind which is composed of a pair of opposed, wheel-gripping, elongated jaws. The silencer is releasably attached to the jaw of the retarder that engages the inside face of the wheel and presents an elongated, wheelengaging layer of frictionable, nonmetallic noise-suppressing material protected along each of its longitudinal edges by a flange, the face of which is flush with the exposed surface of the layer. The flanges prevent unraveling of the edges of the material by protecting the layer from the scrubbing action of the rotating wheels thereby increasing the effective life of the silencer. The flanges also impart a substantial amount of the pressure exerted on the wheel, while at the same time, the layer serves to deaden or dampen the noise that is otherwise present when such metal-to-metal contact is made.

United States Paten 1 Beck 1 7 Feb. 13, 1973 SILENCER FOR RAILCAR RETARDERS [75] Inventor: George W. Beck, McLouth, Kans. Primary ExaminrDuane Reger Att0meySchm1dt, Johnson, Hovey & Williams [73] Assignee: The Safety Skate Company, llnc.,

Y Tonganoxie, Kans. [57] ABSTRACT [22] Fled: 1971 A silencing structure adapted to be used in conjunc- 211 App] 196 655 tion with a railcar retarder of the kind which is composed of a pair of opposed, wheel-gripping, elongated Related Application D jaws. The silencer is releasably attached to the jaw of [63] Com-inuatiomimpan of Sen 143,528 May 14, the retarder that engages the inside face of the wheel 97 and presents an elongated, wheel-engaging layer of frictionable, nonmetallic noise-suppressing material [52] US. Cl ..188/62, 238/17, 238/ 148, protected along each of its longitudinal edges by a 238/382 flange, the face of which is flush with the exposed sur- [51] Int. Cl. ..B61k 7/02 face of the layer. The flanges prevent unraveling of [58] Field of Search.....l88/62, 250 B, 250 G, 250 R; the edges of the material by protecting the layer from I 382 the scrubbing action of the rotating wheels thereby increasing the effective life of the silencer. The flanges References Cited also impart a substantial amount of the pressure ex- UNITED STATES PATENTS erted on the wheel, while at the same time, the layer 1 serves to deaden or dampen the noise that IS otherwise 1,682,746 9/ 1928 Finnessy 188/62 UX present when such metal-to-metal contact is made. 3,232,386 2/1966 Mars et al 3,439,778 4/1969 Garbers et al. 188/62 10 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEnFEmms 3.716.114

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SILENCER FOR RAILCAR RETARDERS CROSS-REFERENCE This is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No. 143,528, filed May 14, 1971, and entitled Silencer For Railroad Boxcar Retarders.

This invention relates to retarding devices that have been installed on rail yard tracks and are used to slowdown and stop the movement of railcars as they are shifted from one track to another during the course of assembling trains. Retarders that have been used heretofore have been in the nature of a pair of elongated, opposed, spring-loaded jaws mounted on each rail of the track which would grip the wheels of the railcar as they passed therethrough, such gripping creating a frictional resistance and thus slowing or stopping the car. One of the inherent problems in using a retarder of this nature was the screeching noise created by the rotational movement of the hardened steel wheels with the stationary steel surface of the jaws. It is to be readilyrecognized that alarge number of these retarders,

such as would be found in a rail yard, create a noise pollution problem and, in some instances, is so severe that the rail companies have had to suspend the use of such devices.

Accordingly, it is an important object of this invention to provide a silencer for a railcar retarder that effectively "kills" the noise generated as the rotating wheels of the moving railcar pass through the retarder.

It is another important object of my invention to provide a silencer in which the sound-deadening material is not susceptible to deterioration because of the scrubbing action ofthe wheels.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a silencer that has improved wearing characteristics and is consequently long-lived.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a retarder in which the silencer can be easily and quickly removed whenever the noise-suppressing material is to be replaced. I I

A further important object of this invention is to provide a silencer that is compact and will in no way interfere with the otherwise normal operation of the retarder or the railcars passing therethrough.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary plan'view showing the retarder with its silencer made pursuant to the present invention and installed on a sectionof rail and illustrating a railcar wheel gripped between the jaws;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, transverse, cross-sectional view showing the jaws in their normal positions;

FIG. 3 is a vertical, cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 2 taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1 showing a wheel between the jaws;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, detailed, side elevational view, parts being broken away for clarity;

and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, slightly'enlarged, side elevational view showing the side opposite that seen in FIG. 4, parts being broken away for clarity.

An apparatus in the nature of a railcar retarder, broadly designated by the numeral 10, is adapted to be attached to a section of rail 12. Retarder is of the kind that is provided with a pair of opposed, elongated, spring-loaded, essentially T-shaped jaws l4 and 16 between which the hardened metallic wheels 18 of a railcar pass longitudinally therethrough. A noise silencing structure 20 having an elongated layer 22 containing a nonmetallic, noise-suppressing material is mounted on jaw 16 in such a manner as to present a surface 24 that engages wheel 18.

Structure 20 includes an elongated, transversely U- shaped support 26 made form metal, or any other suitable material that is less wear-resistant than that of the hardened steel wheels 18, presenting a flat rectangular bight 27 having a pair of members in the nature of integral, laterally extending flanges 28 coextensive in length therewith, flanges 28 thus providing a protector along each longitudinal edge of layer 22.

Support 26 is releasably attached to jaw 16 by means of stud bolts 32 which are affixed, as by welding, to the outer face of bight 27 and extend through matching holes in flanges 35 of jaw 16 to hold bight 27 flatly against the inner face of flanges 3S. Jaws l4 and 16 are so disposed that their flanges 34 and 35 respectively are in a substantially upright posture and their leg portions 36 and 37 respectively are in a generally horizontal position.

The noise-suppressing layer 22 is made from a material such as asbestos that is especially less wear resistant than the material of support 26 and is secured as by bonding to support 26 throughout the inner face of bight 27 and, also, if desired, to flanges 28 so that surface 24 is flush with the outer, elongated faces or edges 30 .of flanges 28. Metallic particles such as brass, copper and/or steel are dispersed throughout the asbestos material which has been provided with a suitable adhesive. The asbestosfibers are woven to form layer 22 after which it is baked in a mold at 540 F. and pressed at 6,000 psi.

Retarder 10 is attached to web 38 of rail 12 by the use of L-shaped brackets 40 which are positioned in pairs, as well as in opposing relationship, on opposite sides of rail 12. Each pair of brackets 40 support a pivot arm'42 through the use of a pin 44. Brackets 40 are horizontally spaced along rail 12 and maintain jaws l4 and 16 in spaced, parallel relationship therewith. Jaws l4 and 16 are attached to their respective pivot arms 42 in such a manner that they are substantially above and to the side of rail 12 with their respective flanges 35 and 36 disposed between arms 42 and the rail 12. A compression spring 46 is interposed between the lower ends of arms 42 and is held therebetween by nut and bolt means 48. Spring 46 and bolt means 48 are located beneath rail 12 so that pivot arm 42 acts as a lever, and pin 44 becomes the fulcrum point for holding jaws l4 and 16 in their normal positions.

In operation, a plurality of retarders 10 are provided at those points along a railroad track where it is desired to stop or otherwise control railcars. Retarders are used primarily in rail yards where trains are made-up and the cars need to be properly spotted, and it is in this situation that the normal braking controls of a locomotive While the drawing illustrates only one retarder 10, it is to be understood that a retarder is placed on each rail 12 of the track assembly in parallel, side-by-side relationship so that the wheels 18 on both sides of the car are gripped simultaneously. Jaw 16 may be thought of as an inner jaw by virtue of the fact that it engages the annular, circumferential flange 52 on the inner side of wheel 18 while jaw 14 would be considered the outer jaw. Retarders which originally consisted of inner and outer jaws identical to jaw 14 may-be provided with a silencer of the kind herein disclosed by replacing the inner jaw with jaw 16 of the present disclosure and affixing structure 20 thereto. Inner jaw 16 is constructed of k inch material in order to have a stiffness approaching that of the 131 lb. rail used for the outer jaw 14. It has been found that lighter material flexes excessively as the wheels 18 transit the retarder. it is also important that there not be any upright flanges, such as might be used for structural reinforcement, at the end of leg 37- opposite flanges 35. The area immediately above this end must be kept clear so as not to interfere with the undercarriage of the railcar.

As the freewheeling railcar approaches the set of retarders, the wheels 18 are guided into contact with the jaws l4 and 16 by leader sections 50 which are formed at each end of the jaws,(shown only at one end in FIG. 1). The springs 46 are so designed and tensioned to provide 90 pounds per square inch of pressure to the wheels as they pass between the jaws l4 and 16. This pressure of the jaws l4 and 16 on wheels 18, in cooperation with the sound-deadening material of layer 22, presentsa quick, noiseless, yet safe means for retarding the movement of the railcar. Jaws 14 and 16 return to their normal positions as illustrated in FIG. 2 after the railcar has moved through the retarders l0.

It has been found that the screeching noise produced by the interaction of the wheels 18 with the retarders can be effectively reduced and substantially eliminated if the inner jaw 16 is provided with a U- shaped support 26 having a layer 22 of wheel-engaging, sound-absorbing, frictionable material. Whereas the layer 22, with its metallically impregnated asbestos, and the flanges 28 provide the frictional drag on wheel '18, the flanges 28 'and the metal particles are primarily incorporated into the structure to reduce the rate of wear of the asbestos while the asbestos is used because 1 of its sound-deadening qualities in addition to its frictionable. characteristics. Flanges 28 furtherserve to provided with such structure, although similar structure 20 could be provided if desired. The circumjaw 16 comes into contact. This appreciably larger area of engagement at aw 16 results m most of the noiseproducing factors being on side 54.

The surface of support 26, to which layer 22 is mounted, may be provided with horizontal serrations to insure itsremaining in proper position and further resist the scrubbing action of wheel 18. The flanges 28 provide this protection and serrations normally would not be required.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with apparatus for retarding movement of a car along a rail of the kind which is provided with a pair of opposed, elongated, spring-loaded jaws between which the metallic wheels of the car pass in engagement with the jaws longitudinally thereof, structure for substantially eliminating noise incident to such retardation, said structure including:

an elongated layer containing a nonmetallic, noisesuppressing material mounted on one of said jaws and provided with a wheel-engaging surface; and

a protector for said layer to alleviate damage to said material during engagement of the wheel with said layer.

2. The invention of claim 1, wherein said protector extends along the longitudinal edges of said layer.

3. The invention of claim 1, wherein the protector is provided with wheel-engaging faces flush with said surface.

4. Theinvention of claim 3, wherein said protector includes an elongated member along each longitudinal edge respectively of said layer, each member being provided with one of said faces.

5. The invention of claim 1, wherein said protector is appreciably more wear-resistant than said material for extending the effective life of said layer.

6. The invention of claim 5, wherein the protector and said material are appreciably. less wear-resistant than said wheels. g

7. The invention of claim 6, wherein metallic particles are interspersed throughout said material to further extend the effective life of said layer.

8. The invention of claim 1; and an elongated, transver'sely U-shaped support containing said layer, having longitudinal flanges presenting'said protector.

9. The invention of claim 8, said flanges having longitudinal faces flush with said surface.

10. The invention of claim 9; and means releasably attaching the support to said one jaw. 

1. In combination with apparatus for retarding movement of a car along a rail of the kind which is provided with a pair of opposed, elongated, spring-loaded jaws between which the metallic wheels of the car pass in engagement with the jaws longitudinally thereof, structure for substantially eliminating noise incident to such retardation, said structure including: an elongated layer containing a nonmetallic, noise-suppressing material mounted on one of said jaws and provided with a wheelengaging surface; and a protector for said layer to alleviate damage to said material during engagement of the wheel with said layer.
 1. In combination with apparatus for retarding movement of a car along a rail of the kind which is provided with a pair of opposed, elongated, spring-loaded jaws between which the metallic wheels of the car pass in engagement with the jaws longitudinally thereof, structure for substantially eliminating noise incident to such retardation, said structure including: an elongated layer containing a nonmetallic, noise-suppressing material mounted on one of said jaws and provided with a wheel-engaging surface; and a protector for said layer to alleviate damage to said material during engagement of the wheel with said layer.
 2. The invention of claim 1, wherein said protector extends along the longitudinal edges of said layer.
 3. The invention of claim 1, wherein the protector is provided with wheel-engaging faces flush with said surface.
 4. The invention of claim 3, wherein said protector includes an elongated member along each longitudinal edge respectively of said layer, each member being provided with one of said faces.
 5. The invention of claim 1, wherein said protector is appreciably more wear-resistant than said material for extending the effective life of said layer.
 6. The invention of claim 5, wherein the protector and said material are appreciably less wear-resistant than said wheels.
 7. The invention of claim 6, wherein metallic particles are interspersed throughout said material to further extend the effective life of said layer.
 8. The invention of claim 1; and an elongated, transversely U-shaped support containing said layer, having longitudinal flanges presenting said protector.
 9. The invention of claim 8, said flanges having longitudinal faces flush with said surface. 